Iran Rules Out US Talks, Prioritizes Frozen Assets in Doha

By Staff, Agencies

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said its priority is implementing the memorandum of understanding [MoU], stressing efforts to ensure its full and serious execution.

On US obligations under Article 10, which concerns oil sales, Iran noted that Washington has issued the necessary authorizations, while Tehran continues to monitor the execution of the provision.

In parallel, Iran is following up on Article 11, which relates to the release of frozen Iranian assets. In this context, a delegation of experts is expected to travel to Doha this week to pursue the matter.

At the same time, the ministry emphasized that Iran has not yet entered the phase of negotiating a final agreement, explaining that under Article 13 of the memorandum, such negotiations can only begin once Articles 1, 4, 10, and 11 have been implemented.

Separately, Tehran added that it will not hold any negotiation meetings with the United States in the coming days at any level, stressing that the planned travel of US representatives to Qatar is unrelated to the Iranian delegation’s visit, which is focused solely on monitoring implementation, including Article 11.

In this context, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said Tehran is not planning any talks with the US in Doha in the coming days.

He further clarified that a delegation of Iranian experts will travel to Doha this week exclusively to work on the issue of unfreezing Iranian assets, stressing that the visit is not linked to negotiations with the US.

“We have no plans for any level of negotiations with the United States in the coming days. The visit of the US delegation to Qatar is unrelated to the Iranian delegation’s trip, which is focused on implementing the provisions of the memorandum,” he said.

The Iranian position came in response to an Axios report claiming that US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner would travel to Doha to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to discuss the Iran negotiations file, and that technical teams from Iran and the US were expected to hold separate meetings with Qatari and Pakistani mediators on Wednesday